When the Mainstream Press Did Something Useful: The Old School Handyman Books By Mrs Vera West

Having started on these reviews, I had hoped to find the three pre-World War II Australian handyman books my father used to pour over on Saturday nights, while I sat next to him warming myself by the wood fire, rewarding comics. So long ago. And, alas, I cannot find those books, but they may still be with me, there is a build-up of a life time of unsorted material.

I did rescue from the silver fish, who have voracious appetites, some books that the mainstream Australian presses put out. The Complete Handyman: Home Repairs, Decorations and Construction, was published by the Advertiser in Adelaide, but there is no date listed. My guess is that it is from the late 1940s. Covered is woodwork, making things like bookshelves, dog kennels, tables, wardrobes and kitchen cabinets. That shows the age of the book, as most men could not do any of this, and just go out and buy it all. Likewise, for the lengthy sections on home plumbing, fixing burst pipes and faults in water taps, cleaning pipes and drains, and repairing roofs and gutters. That reminds me of one fellow I know, an engineering student, who before going to university, worked as a metal fabricator. His father had him try to fix a  box gutter, including covering the whole surface in a special rubber sealant, and the gutter still leaks, after 7 years of patchwork. He is now saving up for a new roof.

Next on the list is The Reader’s Digest Do-It-Yourself Manual (1965). Even as late as the 1960s people were still thinking of doing useful things like building furniture for the home, making tables and cabinets, nursery furniture (people were still having babies then) and adding another room to your home and how to finance it, which is from the friendly banks. See how old the book is!

I am impressed by the detail put into the drawings, obviously intended for men to actually make this stuff.

Finally, in my collation I have The Weekly Times Farmers’ Handbook, no date, but it has a feel of the early 1960s. This book has double column fine print, cramming a lot in. The book opens with a crash course on veterinary matters, caring for cattle, sheep, horse, pigs, cats and dogs. A nice summary. I recall my father having a huge veterinary book, written for the ordinary farmer, of what to do when animals got sick. I recall the treatment for cows that got bloated on food they should not have eaten, was to put a knife between the ribs, at a special spot. I saw my father do this a couple of times, pressing on the cow’s stomach and relieving it of foul gas. Surprisingly, the cow lived. I cannot recommend this.

The book then goes on to deal with farm management, of crops and livestock. The end part of the book deals with manly matters such as welding, which is completely dated technology now, and crafts, oddly then tasking a turn for the ladies, with knitting and crocheting.

Looking through all of this made me a little melancholic, thinking of when Australia was a much better place than it is now, where we have lost the core things that made human lives meaningful, only to be given technological trinkets and junk.